


Bridging The Gulf

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-08
Updated: 2010-09-08
Packaged: 2017-10-11 14:49:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/113593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeb had heard that Azkadellia had fallen apart soon after the Battle of the Double Eclipse, but he hadn't quite believed it.</p><p>(Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/99589">"Schizm"</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bridging The Gulf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [klcthebookworm](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=klcthebookworm).



> Written for the "forced soulbonding" box on my [hc_bingo](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo/) card.

Jeb looked down at the Crown Princess' sister in surprise. His father had told him that Azkadellia had fallen apart soon after the Battle of the Double Eclipse, as it was called, but Jeb hadn't quite believed it. He always assumed that DG or Glitch would be able to do something about Azkadellia, that she would become the princess she had been before the possession.

Only, apparently she had been reduced to a sobbing girl or a cold magic user. DG had said that there was no way to tell who Azkadellia was going to be but Jeb hadn't understood until he had been assigned guard duty for the princess. He stood outside the suite Azkadellia was staying in. DG had tried to bring in toys and stuffed animals and all of the art supplies that Azkadellia had once enjoyed, but Azkadellia had thrown everything across the room and screamed. Even her voice seemed to be different, high pitched like a child's and laced with unholy terror. Cain had whisked her away, and Azkadellia had been left pretty much alone. Whatever healers the Queen could find had come to visit, and all had left shaking their heads in despair. There was nothing they could give the princess, no pill or poultice or spell. DG was made the Crown Princess without further ado, and Azkadellia was then given over to Jeb's care.

She had only screamed when he called her Azkadellia, looking utterly terrified. Nonplused, Jeb retreated until it stopped and she was rocking herself in the corner of the room, her thumb in her mouth. He crept forward slowly, then knelt in front of her. "Hello."

She looked at him with large eyes, looking for all the world like a small child. "I shouldn't talk to strangers," she said, her voice pitched high with fear and mistrust.

"I'm Jeb," he said, sticking his hand out for her to take. "I'd like to be your friend."

"I'm Delia," she said, taking his hand delicately and giving it a fierce shake, the way a child would. "I don't have too many friends. Only Feather."

"Feather?"

"It doesn't like being out, either. It wants to just think about magic. And Az is tired of being punished all the time, and Azkadellia's sleeping still, so all that's left is me." Her lips trembled and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "I don't like it here, Jeb! I don't like this! They scare me!"

"How old are you?" Jeb asked tentatively. She was acting like a child, and he was starting to think that perhaps there was a reason why her behavior was so strange following the eclipse.

"Nine," Delia said, her lower lip thrust out.

"Oh." Jeb settled down to sit in front of her, his legs crossed loosely. "And how old is Feather?"

"It's _old._ It's magic, and magic doesn't have an age," Delia said simply, with a child's faith. "It doesn't like being in charge, and no one else can be."

"Why does somebody have to be in charge?"

Delia rolled her eyes, as if it was a stupid question. "Because I like to play, not deal with stupid grown ups or answering questions about what the Sorceress did. And Feather likes doing magic and hates being in charge. Az only gets punished. Azkadellia sleeps. She's not allowed to wake up. Bad things happen if she wakes up."

Jeb frowned at her words. "Like what?"

Delia leaned forward, and Jeb was painfully aware of the adult body that housed the child mind. "Everybody disappears. She's the First One, but she's empty. She's a doll. If she wakes up, we're all gone."

Jeb took Delia's hand. "I'm in charge of protecting you. I guess I'm protecting all of you now."

It was unnerving to see the childish blink and surprised expression on the face of the oldest princess. "I don't think we've ever had a protector outside of us. The Sorceress kept us safe. She was mean sometimes. She did bad things, but she kept us safe."

He reached out and caressed her cheek gently. "I'll protect you, Delia. And maybe you'll find a grown up inside that's willing to protect the rest of you."

Delia blinked. "There's no one here now. I don't know if we can make another one. It was us for so long."

"Then don't make another one. Just... grow up, or something. I don't know how that works."

She gave him a childish frown. "I don't, either, but I'm sure I don't ever grow up. Never ever, ever."

"Oh. I'd like to get a chance to talk to someone closer to my age, maybe," Jeb said. "Maybe Feather?"

Delia shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I'm all that's left right now."

"Well, I think it's time for nine year olds to nap."

In shock, Jeb watched the princess fall over after nodding in agreement. Her body was limp, like a marionette doll with its strings cut. Jeb was forced to bring her to her bed and lay her down. Hopefully no one would choose that moment to pass by and ask why he was behaving in such an inappropriate manner. With a sigh, he sat down on a chair beside her bed. It was quiet in this part of the palace; no one came near Azkadellia's chambers if they didn't have to. Even the serving staff tended to avoid it if they knew she was present. Jeb couldn't deal with silence like this; complete silence in the past had always seemed to herald an attack from the Longcoats. He was used to noise and activity and _doing something_ or leading a large group of people. Suddenly being assigned to Azkadellia's personal guard might have been a step up professionally, but it left him with too much time on his hands.

Not knowing what else to do, he began to tell her stories about Piper, one of the rebels he had worked with against the Sorceress' reign. He'd had a crush on Piper for years, but there was never any time to do anything about it. They were on the run, or fighting, or she was bedding one of the subcommanders and had no time for Jeb. That led to some stories about the others he had fought with, rough and tumble times where the rebels squared off against the Longcoats. They didn't always win, but at least they broke even. Piper was dead now, killed during a raid at least an annual ago, but that story was still too painful to tell.

At some point, he trailed off. He had talked for hours, it seemed, and Azkadellia lay there very still on her bed. Jeb rubbed at his jaw as he looked at her. She was beautiful, of course, and even if she wasn't dangerous to the OZ she was still a symbol for the remaining Longcoats to rally around. She was dangerous in that sense, perhaps, though his father and DG were working on corralling the last of the resistance to the royalist regime. DG would be a good Crown Princess; from what little Jeb had seen so far, she was level headed and no-nonsense in some areas, and compassionate at others. And while it didn't matter to the rest of the country, Jeb liked how she made his father laugh and smile again. That was a huge bonus in his book. Anyone that could make his father happy had to be a good person. He knew his father still missed his mother, but even Jeb had to admit that Adora would have wanted Cain to be happy. He knew his father was somewhat embarrassed that DG was nearly half his age, but Jeb figured that was why she was good for him. DG was spontaneous and full of life, everything that had been drained out of his father.

"Why did you stop talking?" the princess asked, stretching out languidly on the bed.

Jeb started at the sight of her, not sure who it was that was speaking. "Got tired, I guess."

She looked at him curiously. "You?" She laughed, and Jeb couldn't place it, but it was familiar. "Jeb," she began seriously, moving to sit at the edge of her bed. Hands on the edge for balance, she leaned forward until she was nearly nose to nose with him. "Why didn't you ever tell me you loved me?"

Cold sweat broke out along his back. "What are you talking about?"

"You were telling that little girl about me. You never said it, of course, but I could figure it out. I can read between the lines as well as you can."

Blood drained out of Jeb's face. What had he done?

She reached out to cup his face gently. "You could have told me," she said gently. It wasn't right, how much she sounded like Piper, as if she somehow was able to lift the memories out of his mind as he spoke. For all he knew, that's exactly how it happened. There was something like static in her touch, something sharp and tingling where her skin was pressed against his. Her lips moved, that expression faltering and slipping for a moment. "I don't... I don't feel right."

Her expression shifted, and her eyes grew wide. "She's not right. Your happy fighter lady," Delia said. "You have to fix her. You have to make her stay. She needs to stay. She's strong enough to hold us all together. You said she could order around all the men, she could do anything. She could hold us together, but she isn't right. She isn't like us. I can't make her stay, and Feather can't do it. Az is crying. You have to help us, Jeb, please!"

"I don't know what to do," Jeb replied, shaking his head and pulling her hands from his face. "I'm not magic. I can't do anything but fight."

"She's not..." Delia's frightened expression smoothed out. For a moment, Azkadellia's face was blank, but then something shifted and her eyes were hard and like chips of ice. "You're stronger than you think you are, Jeb Cain. DG wouldn't have sent you here otherwise."

"Who are _you?"_ he blurted, startled.

"I am Feather," the princess said coldly. "The new girl is slipping away, still half formed. She isn't like us, and she wasn't born from us. She's not stable, and she won't be like us unless she is. She doesn't know what we are, so there's no reason for her to solidify and stay."

"I have no idea what you just said," Jeb told Feather honestly.

"You are charged to help us, are you not?" Jeb nodded. "Then you make that girl stay. You make her think she's real."

"But I don't know how to do that!"

"She finds you pleasing," Feather said, eyes glinting with cold humor. "You're a man. Find a way."

Azkadellia's eyes shifted, and she looked blankly at Jeb. "What happened? Did I fall asleep?"

"Piper?"

She rubbed her eyes as she nodded and yawned. "I must have dozed off. Sorry 'bout that. I promise it's not 'cause you're boring, Jeb."

Jeb caught her hand in his. "How do you feel?"

"Weird. Like... There's so much I don't remember. Did I get captured and given the vapors?"

"Something like that," Jeb lied. "You didn't say a thing to give any of us away."

Piper laughed. "Of course I wouldn't. What we do is too important."

Jeb's gut clenched. Of all the stupid things he'd ever done, recreating Piper for a fractured princess had to be at the top of the list. "Well, things have changed."

She touched his chest. "No kidding. Did I hear you tell stories about me? Thinking I'm pretty damn awesome?"

By the suns, that voice was the same. Those inflections, the word choices. Jeb thought of the way her skin felt, like static and heat and a wicked shock of electricity. Was Feather using magic to _force_ a personality creation? _She isn't like us,_ Feather said. _She wasn't born from us._

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Jeb launched himself at Piper, kissing her full on the mouth, his lips opening over hers. She responded enthusiastically, arms around his shoulders. It was like kissing fire, or sticking his fingers into a wall socket. Something was happening between them, something odd and strange and almost frightening. Her mouth opened beneath his, and his tongue slid in to touch hers. The jolt between them made them both gasp.

_"Fuck,_ Jeb. If I knew just kissing you would feel like this, I'd've done this ages ago."

This had to be a dream, Jeb decided. Piper never so much as _looked_ at him that way before. But she was pulling his shirt from his waist, and the contact of her hands against his skin was utterly electric. He pushed her back toward the bed, lifting the skirts of her dress. Jeb had to tug a layer of petticoat out of the way, and Piper shimmied out of it as best as she could. "Damn, this is why I hate dresses," she grumbled, finally kicking them off and helping him to hike the skirt of the dress above her hips. Jeb touched the bared skin of her thighs, his breath ghosting over her neck as she held his shoulders to keep him from moving away. "Jeb," she whined. "C'mon, just touch me already."

Jeb gently pushed her back and moved down the length of her body. She whimpered when he pressed his mouth to her, when he started licking at her in earnest. She tangled her fingers in his hair, back arching up as she gasped for breath. She spread her legs wide to give him better access, and she tasted like honey on his tongue. Piper shoved a fist into her mouth to muffle the sound, not wanting the other guards showing up too soon. Jeb traced her folds with his fingertips and then slipped one inside. She made a keening sound, high and needy and wonderful to hear. Whatever guilt that Jeb might have felt _(oh shit, this is the princess, and she's going to kill me if her sister and my dad don't...)_ instantly dissolved. He moved according to the sounds she made; when she sounded ready to fall apart in his hands, he withdrew and licked his lips. Piper whimpered, reaching for him. "Jeb," she whispered, eyes glazed with need. "Please, Jeb," she said, reaching for him. She had never looked at him that way before, and it almost felt like it set him on fire.

She came when he slid his fingers inside of her, pumping them in and out roughly. He touched his tongue to the seam of her mouth, then touched her tongue when she parted her lips. She moaned into his mouth as her body clenched down hard on his fingers, her hands pulling at the sheets. Piper rose up and wound her arms around him after that, trying to pull him down on top of her. "Piper..."

"Now, Jeb. No more teasing."

He thrust into her wet heat, and she muffled a soft keening noise by kissing his mouth. It was a rough kiss, all desire and no finesse, hard and deep, her tongue sliding into his mouth. Jeb didn't care about that. The sensation of her was overwhelming, as if he was drowning in her. And when he opened his eyes, he could see her rapt expression as well as his own stunned one, mouth falling open as he struggled for breath. It was dizzying; he could see what she saw as well as what he usually did, superimposed over each other. He could feel her pleasure, could feel it shoot through her right down to her curling toes, could feel his own body tighten in response. And then he was spilling inside of her, making her clench down harder around him, hissing in her own orgasm.

This wasn't normal, not in the slightest, and some part of him should have been worried about that. But it felt like they were tied together somehow, that for once in his life he felt _complete._ He wasn't alone anymore, not struggling to do everything and meet every expectation all by himself.

When their breaths slowed, Piper shakily pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Not to give you a swelled head or anything," she began in a shaky voice, "but wow."

Jeb grinned at her and linked his fingers through hers. "You were pretty damn amazing, too."

"Fuck, yeah," she said with a wide grin. "We're an amazing team, aren't we?"

"Always were. Kind of why I never wanted to screw it up."

She traced the edge of his lower lip. "I'm glad you finally did."

She seemed... settled, almost. That dreadful anxiety on her face was gone, that confusion she had earlier seemed to be erased. "Doing okay?"

"Yeah. I think so." She caught sight of herself in the mirror while cleaning herself up and stilled. "Jeb..."

He was there instantly. "What is it?"

"That's not my face." She whirled around, heavy skirt swishing about her bare legs. "What happened to me?"

Jeb closed his eyes for a moment, wondering what the hell he could say. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked into her inquisitive face. "The Sorceress was actually a witch possessing Azkadellia. The witch was killed not too long ago, but Azkadellia..." Her eyes had widened until they seemed to dominate her face, and Jeb grasped her hands tightly. "I don't understand it exactly, but the princess was damaged somehow. She wasn't right after that."

"Why do I have her face?" Piper asked, voice high and reedy with fear. Jeb had never heard it like that before.

He grasped her face in his hands, feeling the crackle between them. It wasn't as intense as before, but it was almost comforting now. "Something happened, and now you're in her body. So everyone looks at you and sees the princess. They think you're her."

A hysterical giggle worked its way up to her lips. "I'm no fucking princess."

Jeb pulled her close. "Piper, I'm with you, okay? Whatever happened to the princess, I can't even say. But you're here now. And I'm here now. I will never let anyone hurt you. I will never let anything happen to you."

She clutched at his shirt and buried her face against his chest. "This... What am I supposed to do about this? I can't... I can't be a princess."

"No one knows what the princess Azkadellia was truly like," Jeb began slowly. "You'll have to learn to use her magic, of course. But no one knows what she's really like. Even her own sister doesn't. No one expects things to go away overnight. You can figure it out as you go along."

Piper pulled back and looked at him. "She has a sister? But DG died..."

"I have a lot to tell you," he said wryly. "There's so much you need to catch up on, not just that magic stuff. I'm going to be here with you," Jeb repeated. The more he repeated it, the more he was certain it had to be true. "We're linked somehow, you and I. Nothing will ever change that."

Something in Piper's expression softened. "I'm sorry I didn't see that before." She cupped his cheek in her hand. "But at least we have this now, right? And I won't fuck this up, I promise. I've already had too much go wrong already."

Jeb closed his hand over hers, holding it against his face. "Yeah, me too." He turned and kissed the palm of her hand. "C'mon. Let me tell you about everything that's happened in the past few months."

Her smile was blinding, and Jeb could almost believe that this would. With the two of them bonded together, and as close as he had to be, this would have to work.

 

The End


End file.
